One month on from its much-anticipated launch, Counter-Strike 2’s development team at Valve has revealed details regarding the current state of the game and the direction they want to take it in the future, with plans to add new guns and game modes over time.
In an Oct. 27 interview with PCGamer’s Rich Stanton, CS2 devs discussed the period leading up to CS2‘s limited test, all that’s happened since its release, and what will come in the future. Valve’s devs had a lot to talk about and didn’t skim on details, saying that CS2 is “truly the largest technical leap forward in Counter-Strike history.”
Valve elaborated on the game’s rocky launch state, taking a defensive stance on bugs and issues the community brought up, with a particular focus on questionable situations regarding CS2‘s hit registration and sub-tick updates.
The devs said that they are highly committed to the sub-tick system and they hold high hopes for it, even despite it failing to perform as expected early into CS2’s lifespan. “For the most part, the system works as intended,” they said.
They didn’t deny the existence of bugs and claimed that player feedback is the most important thing to them as it is the best way of revealing underlying issues.
When asked if CS2 would be adding more content to the game, such as new weapons, Valve resoundingly said yes. However, though it may be part of their vision of the future, it’s not their primary concern.
“It’s not the top priority at the moment, but we absolutely plan to introduce some new weapons for CS2,” Valve said. They also added that previous experience with new weapons in CS:GO‘s ten-year lifespan will significantly influence how they handle such additions down the line.
Valve also added that it would be bringing back game modes from CS:GO that were unfortunately removed from their latest title, including the likes of Arms Race and community modes like surf. “Good gameplay” is what attracts a high number of players, and Valve will be focusing precisely on those parts of Counter-Strike that are enjoyed by a significant portion of the community.
The CS2 development team also believes the title’s launch was more than successful. “The launch has been an overwhelming success, and the player numbers are still humbling,” they said.
CS:GO saw a massive jump in player count in the lead-up to CS2’s release, but numbers have since fallen as the community remains divided over the game’s changes.
The team also claimed that the limited test proved to be a fantastic decision as the early feedback helped tremendously during development. A longer beta, the team claims, would have helped even more and prepared the game for a more stable release. But even so, a full launch expedited the entire process of improving the game’s potential flaws.
Valve has many plans for CS2 in the future. And, as the devs say, they don’t have exact, solid foresight but remain committed to realizing the game’s potential.
“We don’t have a specific vision that we’re trying to realize, but rather a process we want to continue to execute for many years,” they concluded. Given the number of updates we’ve seen over the past few weeks, it’s clear Valve is still ironing out the kinks.
The question is whether the Counter-Strike community can remain patient enough while the devs clean up. Time will certainly tell.
Published: Oct 27, 2023 11:43 pm